JAIPUR: A State-wide telemedicine project, bringing in connectivity between patients at remote ends and specialist doctors in the capital city, was launched here on Tuesday. The project will be operated through the INSAT satellite network to provide expert medical services to poor patients in the shape of consultation and treatment.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated the project by establishing the first link of the newly built telemedicine centre at SRG Hospital in Jhalawar with Sawai Man Singh Hospital here, which is the biggest Government hospital in the State.

The State Government has initiated the project in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to enable poor villagers to get expert medical advice while sitting at remote locations, doing away with the need to travel to Jaipur or other bigger cities, thus saving their expenses and time and avoiding trouble.

A team of doctors from SMS Hospital, led by neurologist Ashok Panagariya, talked directly to the patients at the Jhalawar hospital and doctors treating them and gave expert opinion regarding the medication and treatment.

Ms. Raje, speaking on the occasion, pointed out that extending medical services to far-off areas in the desert State was a challenging task in view of difficult climatic conditions and terrain. She said the project would fill the gap and provide much-needed relief to patients in rural areas.

Among others, Medical and Health Minister Digambar Singh, Education Minister Ghanshyam Tiwari, ISRO scientist V. Vijayaraman, and chairman of Apollo group, Pratap C. Reddy, attended the inaugural function at B.M. Birla Auditorium here.

The telemedicine facility will be started in all the 32 district hospitals, six medical colleges and six mobile units by June this year with all of them connected to SMS Hospital here. Multi-speciality teleadvisories will be available in the areas of heart care, neonatology, nephrology, pulmonary medicine, management of high risk pregnancy, radiology, pathology and tropical medicine.

Dr. Digambar Singh said while the district hospitals would be covered in the project's first phase, the second phase will include all the community and primary health centres. ISRO will provide satellite services to the State Government free of cost during the first five years of the project.

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